Category Archives: ARC August

Tomorrow is September and for me that marks the end of the summer holidays. My classroom is all set up and looking shiny and new and Monday will be the start of work with those bright eyed and snotty nosed beauties.

ARC August

I’ve been doing ARC August but I’ve completely sucked at it. At the beginning of the month, my Netgalley percentage was at 66%. I managed to get my percetage up to 72% but then went and requested 3 new books so It’s now sitting at 70%.

Feedback Ratio: 70%

97 Approved | 68 Feedback Sent

Suggested feedback ratio is 80%

Books now sitting on my shelf that look interesting are:

I’ve been a little bit silly and requested the second book without reading the first one, hoping it would be motivation to do so – I do own all the first books, I just haven’t gotten around to them.

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

This is the best book I’ve read so far this year.

This book first came to my attention whilst I was waiting for the tube. Yes, advertising really does work. Doesn’t that cover just grab your attention? But honestly, the book wasn’t what I was expecting, it was so much more.

Eleanor is one of those well developed and interesting characters who are truly memorable. She is socially clueless to the point where everyone just finds her odd. It can be very painful yet hysterical. She sticks to her routine; working at the same job for nine years, starting work at 8:30, breaking for an hour lunch during which she reads the newspaper cover to cover and does the cross word and leaving at 5:30. She then goes home and listens to the Archers and watches TV for a little while then off to bed at ten. The only day her routine changes is Wednesday when receives a phone call from Mummy. Throughout the weekend she drinks two bottles of vodka so shes consistently in the state where she’s neither drunk or sober. No one comes to visit her and she doesn’t go out to visits anyone else.

She is completely 100% fine with her life. Until she see the one on stage.Then she is on a mission to meet she. She first decides she needs to have a complete make over before she meets him, which is both shocking and hilarious.

When her computer breaks down she meets Raymonds from IT. He wears jeans and t-shirts with ‘childish slogans’ on. Raymond is intrigued by Eleanor but she’s not interested because she’s getting herself ready for the man of her dreams. But after work one day, Eleanor and Raymond come across a man who has fallen. Together they help the man and begin a friendship with him and his family that changes Eleanor’s routine and life.

Eleanor’s social awkwardness and seemingly lack of verbal filter can be hilirous, but I never felt like I was laughing at Eleanor.

There was nothing to tempt me from the choice of desserts, so I opted instead for a coffee, which was bitter and lukewarm. Naturally, I had been about to pour it all over myself but, just in time, had read the warning printed on the paper cup, alerting me to the fact that hot liquids can cause injury. A lucky escape, Eleanor! I said to myself, laughing quietly. I began to suspect that Mr. McDonald was a very foolish man indeed, although, judging from the undiminished queue, a wealthy one.

The book isn’t all funny and not at all light. It is also a dark book. Something awful happened to Eleanor as a child, and throughout the book we get hints as to what it is.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was packed full of emotion and I can wait to see what the author produces next.

When twelve-year-old J.D. is tricked into taking possession of a book of spells, his best friend turns their teacher into a zombie. The zombification of Mr. Katz creates general chaos and a not-so-terrific time for near-genius J.D.

Teamed with his best friend Rodney, twin troublemakers, and an obnoxious ghost, J.D. must figure out how to change Mr. Katz back from one of the undead before he:

Can four boys armed with a slingshot, two boxes of jelly
donuts, and a handy zombie guide battle their mindless teacher and live to tell?

Probably not.

You’ll have to read to find out.

I’m going to go right ahead and say I am not the target audience for this book. I’m probably double the age that you’re suppose to be (8 – 12 year olds). That said, I really enjoyed this book! And I think that if it is entertaining for those older than the age range then it is the mark of a great book, .

This book was really entertaining and enjoyable. They children manage to turn their teacher into a stinking, groaning, but ultimately non-threatening, doughnut eating zombie. It’s not overly silly but equally, it’s not going to give the children who read this nightmares.

I loved the whole family were involved in a business together and how the parents helped the children find the answer – they weren’t just completely unaware of what was going on but were really supportive.

I personally really enjoyed this and I’ll be interested to see if I find this in the school library at any point.

Woah, we’ve come to the end of the second week of ARC August (hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat). This week wasn’t anywhere near as good as last week, I only managed to complete Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and I’ve started Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2). I loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. If you haven’t read it yet, I would definitely recommend you go and get it now.

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live.

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

Raithe, the God Killer, may have started the rebellion by killing a Fhrey, but long-standing enmities dividing the Rhune make it all but impossible to unite against a common foe. And even if the clans can join forces, how will they defeat an enemy whose magical prowess makes the Fhrey indistinguishable from gods?

The answer lies across the sea in a faraway land populated by a reclusive and dour race who feels nothing but disdain for both Fhrey and mankind. With time running out, Persephone leads the gifted young seer Suri, the Fhrey sorceress Arion, and a small band of misfits in a desperate search for aid—a quest that will take them into the darkest depths of Elan. There, an ancient adversary waits—an enemy as surprising as it is deadly.

In total, I’ve managed to raise my Netgalley percentage from 66% to 72%!

Advanced Reading Copy provided, in exchanged for an honest review, from the publishers.

A pupil and a teacher. Is it ever right to break the rules? Jessica Hart has never forgotten Matthew Landley. After all, he was her first love when she was fifteen years old. But he was also her school maths teacher, and their forbidden affair ended in scandal with his arrest and imprisonment. Now, seventeen years later, Matthew returns to Norfolk, with a new identity and a long-term girlfriend and a young daughter, who know nothing of what happened before. Yet when he runs into Jessica, neither of them can ignore the emotional ties that bind them together. With so many secrets to keep hidden, how long can Jessica and Matthew avoid the dark mistakes of their past imploding in the present? From debut author Rebecca Done, This Secret We’re Keeping is a powerful and provocative novel about the ties which can keep us together – or tear us apart.

This book is a controversial novel about a relationship between a teacher and his fifteen year old pupil. It is told with two narratives; Matthew’s (teacher) POV in 1993 and Jess’ (student) story in the present. We get to see how the relationship comes to be and how the scandal came out and affected both of their lives.

This book gripped me. As in, I locked myself in my room for hours reading. I was brushing my teeth and still reading. I was up way past my bed time reading. And in the end, it left me speechless.

The author took a very difficult subject and did it really well, leaving me feeling very torn. It was a very well written story that left me feeling very morally drained. It was very character driven, both of whom were very likable and well developed. It was very hard not to get emotionally involved in their lives. Whilst in the past your screaming that having an affair with a vulnerable fifteen year old student is wrong, I couldn’t help but root for them in the present.

I would have given it five stars had it not been for the muddle in the last few chapters.

Advanced Reading Copy provided, in exchanged for an honest review, from the publishers.

Have you ever fallen for someone the rest of the world thought you shouldn’t have? Malorie Blackman brings together the very best young adult authors writing today in a stunningly romantic collection of love against the odds.

Featuring stories and extracts about modern star-crossed lovers, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak. This is a collection for anyone who has ever loved and lost – and loved again…

This is an anthology combining a mixture of clippings from books and novellas, all about love, by some very famous and talented authors.

It contains clippings from:

More Than This by Patrick Ness

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

Trouble by Non Pratt

Rani and Dukh by Bali Rai

You Against Me by Jenny Downham

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Junk by Melvin Burgess

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Heroic by Phil Earle

I Am Messenger by Markus Zusak

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Echo Boyu by Matt Haig

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

We Were Liars by E Lockhart

And short stories by:

Malorie Blackman

Susie Day

Laura Dockrill

David Levithan

Lauren Kate

Catherine Johnson

James Dawson

This book is a complete mix, containing something for everyone. It has stories about blindness, transgender, coming out and incest. It has all different stories all with the main theme of love. And best of all, it’s not all straight love and not all from the girl’s perspective.

I had already read some of the clippings in here, like: Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, Northern Lights by Philip Pullman and Troubled by Non Pratt, so I just skipped these. I’m not going to lie, there were some stories that didn’t grab me, but the best thing is that I could skip that clip and go onto the next bit. I didn’t have to drag myself through tonnes of pages just to complete the story. There were a lot of clipping that did grab my attention, and I know I’ll be adding to my every growing TBR list.

My favourite short story was definitely the first one by Malorie Blackman Humming through my fingers. It was just so interesting and beautiful – I would happily read an entire book about this. I didn’t want it to end.

If you’re expecting a novel by Malorie Blackman then you will be thoroughly disappointed. But if you’re looking for some short stories and new books, this is the book for you.

Week 1 of ARC August (hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat.) has come to an end and I was able to read 3 books this week!

All three books were completely different but I enjoyed all of them. I’ve staggered their reviews throughout this month 🙂 I also managed to write reviews for a couple of books I’d read but forgotten to review.

I also made a silly, I thought I had the whole of The Bone Season but tuns out I just requested chapter 1! So I managed to cross that off my list (kind of).

In total this week, I’ve managed to raise my Netgalley percentage from 66% to 70%!